Israel reportedly targets long-wanted Hezbollah figure in deadly attack in Beirut

An Israeli airstrike struck a Beirut neighborhood on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly 60, Lebanese health officials said, the first such Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital in months.

The Israeli attack on Beirut’s crowded southern suburb came at rush hour, as people were returning home from work and children were leaving school. Local television networks broadcast footage that showed at least two buildings completely flattened and a main street devastated in Dahiyeh, just a few miles from central Beirut, where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah rules.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press about behind-the-scenes security matters, said the attack targeted Ibrahim Akil, a senior Hezbollah military official. An official close to the Hezbollah fighters, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, confirmed that Akil was reportedly in the building when it was hit.

Two Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Akil was killed in the attack.

Akil served as head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and Jihad Council, the group’s highest military body. The U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on Akil for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, having previously offered a multimillion-dollar reward for information leading to his arrest. (new window)The United States also blamed Akil for masterminding the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

Unclear damage from Hezbollah rocket fire

Earlier on Friday, Hezbollah fired 140 rockets at northern Israel, with the region awaiting retribution promised by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for a mass bombing of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members.

Hezbollah said its Katyusha rocket attacks were directed against several targets along the border, including a number of air defense bases, as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade, which it said was the first time it had been attacked.

The Israeli military said 120 missiles were fired at areas of the Golan Heights, Safed and Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted. Firefighters were working to extinguish fires caused by pieces of debris that fell to the ground in several areas, the military said.

The military did not say whether any rockets hit targets or caused any fatalities.

The military said another 20 shells were fired at the towns of Meron and Netua. Most of them landed in open areas. No injuries were reported.

WATCH Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah responds to attacks he blames on Israel:

Widget Debut Widget. Handing Over Widget?

Find the Widget Widget. Back to the Widget Debut?

Pager attacks crossed ‘red lines,’ says Hezbollah leader

24 hours agoDuration0:20Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel on Thursday of targeting thousands of pagers in a wave of attacks that have hit Lebanon this week. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the explosions.

Hezbollah says it has nothing to do with attacks on devices

Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and homes in southern Lebanon, and not for the two-day attacks widely blamed on Israel in which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily gunfire since Oct. 8, the day after Israel’s war with Hamas began, but Friday’s rocket barrage was stronger than usual.

SEE l Israel party to ban on weapons and indiscriminate attacks: analyst

Widget Debut Widget. Handing Over Widget?

Find the Widget Widget. Back to the Widget Debut?

Is Using Exploding Pagers in Lebanon a Law? | Canada Tonight

Some experts suggest that the explosions of wireless communications equipment in Lebanon, part of a series of attacks widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, likely violate the laws of war. Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the U.S. program at the International Crisis Group, discusses this with Canada Tonight.

Nasrallah vowed on Thursday to continue daily attacks on Israel despite this week’s deadly sabotage of his members’ communications equipment, which he described as a serious blow.

At least 20 people were killed and thousands injured in attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday when pagers, walkie-talkies and other devices exploded.

The sophisticated attacks have raised fears that the cross-border exchange of fire could escalate into all-out war. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the attacks.

In recent days, Israel has moved massive combat forces to its northern border, authorities have toughened their rhetoric, and the government’s security cabinet has declared the return of tens of thousands of displaced people to their homes in northern Israel an official war goal.

Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills at least 15

Meanwhile, fighting in the Gaza Strip has subsided, but the death toll continues to rise.

Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed in multiple Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

They included six people, including an unknown number of children, in an airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City that hit a family home, the Gaza Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when an attack hit a group of people on the street.

Israel says it is only targeting militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual attacks, had no immediate comment.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 95,000 wounded in the territory since the war began. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its statistics, but says just over half of those killed are women and children.

The war has caused massive destruction and displaced some 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

The war began when Hamas carried out attacks in southern Israel on October 7 that killed 1,200 people, including several Canadians, according to Israeli government estimates.

Israel said more than 250 hostages were taken at the time. Just over 100 hostages remain missing after the repatriations, but the Israeli government believes about a third of that number are already dead.

Associated Press Press Agency